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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/26898646">cyclone of the consciousness</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/junietuesday25/pseuds/junietuesday25'>junietuesday25</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>silver of the sea [2]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>The Legend of Zelda &amp; Related Fandoms, The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Angst, Existentialism, Gen, Hopeful Ending, Hurt/Comfort, Trans Link (Legend of Zelda), at least i think</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-10-08</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-10-08</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-18 01:41:56</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>1,096</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/26898646</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/junietuesday25/pseuds/junietuesday25</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>After Link visits the Face Shrine, they have a conversation with Old Man Ulrira about the nature of Koholint Island.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Link &amp; Old Man Ulrira (Legend of Zelda)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>silver of the sea [2]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/1961308</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>6</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>14</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>cyclone of the consciousness</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>ahaha i made it angsty</p><p>also link is genderqueer in this. link’s genderfluid throughout this whole series actually <s>stfu let me project on link in peace</s> but it’s not tagged in the ones where link uses exclusively he/him bc i don’t want to just say “link’s trans!” without actually showing anything</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <em>HUMAN, MONSTER, SEA, SKY... A SCENE ON THE LID OF A SLEEPER'S EYE…</em>
</p><p>
  <em>AWAKE THE DREAMER, AND KOHOLINT WILL VANISH MUCH LIKE A BUBBLE ON A NEEDLE…</em>
</p><p>Link couldn’t breathe.</p><p>
  <em>Illusion…</em>
</p><p>
  <em>ILLUSION…</em>
</p><p>
  <em>ILLUSION.</em>
</p><p>Monsters. There were monsters. Link ducked under bombs that rained from above, explosions ringing in their ears even as they avoided the blast radii; distractedly they swung their sword at a buzz blob, and bit down hard on the inside of their mouth to keep from screaming as electricity ricocheted up and down their nerves.</p><p>There! A telephone booth. Link dodged the pair of winged octoroks at its entrance and ran inside the hollowed tree, slamming the wooden door behind them and slumping to the ground. Monsters—no matter how strong—could never attack them in telephone booths. Link had never been more thankful for that fact.</p><p>…A dream.</p><p>Koholint couldn’t be a dream.</p><p>Why was Link even entertaining the idea? This couldn’t be a <em>hallucination.</em> The rough wood of the telephone booth under their feet, the crisp salty air of the island, the ivory grip of their new Seashell Sword—all of it was just as vivid as anything Link had experienced in Hyrule. In their mind Link could picture clearly a sunset-warm smile and a soft pink hibiscus, and heard the sweet melody of her ballad.</p><p>But Link didn’t have to just picture it! They could go to Animal Village right now and listen to Marin sing for as long as they wanted—could recline on the soft green grass and admire Marin’s sweet singing voice, trying not to appear too hopelessly enamored. They could go to Mabe Village and waste too many rupees on the Trendy Game, rage-worthily rigged as it was; they could sit at their and Marin’s secret place at Toronbo Shores and listen to the waves crashing against the sand; they could go to the library and read for a while—apparently one couldn’t read in their dreams, and clearly Link could still read all of the signs and books on Koholint! The carving had to be a distraction of some kind, a way to scare them out of finishing their quest and saving Koholint from the Nightmares.</p><p>Well, that was never going to happen. Link would defeat all of the Nightmares, wake the Wind Fish, and then they and Marin would get to travel across the entire world hand-in-hand.</p><p>…Right?</p><p>The Owl’s words echoed through Link’s mind.</p><p>
  <em>Just as you cannot know if a chest holds treasure until you open it, so you cannot tell if this is a dream until you awaken… Trust your feelings...</em>
</p><p>Sometimes Link felt like something was <em>off</em> about Koholint.</p><p>No one had ever even <em>heard</em> of anywhere past the borders of the island. Humans had to get here <em>somehow</em>—and yet there weren’t even legends about the Koholint residents’ ancestors arriving on this island. </p><p>Really, there weren’t stories about anything at all. No one here seemed to have a past. Once, Link had asked Madam MeowMeow when she’d gotten BowWow; she had frowned at them uncomprehendingly, only speaking again when Link had changed the subject.</p><p>Now that Link was thinking about it, they weren’t sure if they’d even slept since they arrived. They weren’t tired at all, or even in pain; of course, wounds from the monsters across the island stung and bled—fiercely so—but there were none of the lingering aches that Link had experienced since they were barely a teen. There was no change in weather across the island, either—it was always sunny across the prairies and Tal Tal Heights, there was a perpetual fog over the Mysterious Woods, and the Yarna Desert was constantly choked by dust. In fact…</p><p>They abruptly realized that the sun hadn’t set once during the entirety of their quest.</p><p>Link scrambled to their feet and lunged for the telephone on the wooden table that sat at the center of the telephone booth. Their hands shook as they waited for Ulrira to pick up.</p><p>
  <em>Brring! Brring!</em>
</p><p><em>“Ulrira here!”</em> Ulrira’s voice was scratchy and cheery as it always was, only distorted somewhat through the device Link held. <em>“…Have you been to the Face Shrine? It is north of Animal Village. That is a very interesting—”</em></p><p>“I went,” Link cut him off. “I… I went.”</p><p><em>“Oh!”</em> said Ulrira. <em>“So you don’t need help?”</em></p><p>Link suddenly felt very stupid for bothering Ulrira like this.</p><p>“I-I guess not,” Link mumbled. They gripped the fabric of their tunic tightly. “I don’t…”</p><p>On the other end of the line, there was nothing but silence.</p><p><em>“Is something the matter?”</em> When Ulrira finally spoke, his voice was softer than normal. <em>“I’m here to help!”</em></p><p>Link swallowed. They sat down, the telephone’s cord just long enough to reach their ears as they leaned back against the table. </p><p>“Is this real?” Link blurted out. “This—this whole island. Everyone on it.”</p><p><em>“Well, of course it’s real!”</em> said Ulrira, words bright. He didn’t <em>understand.</em></p><p>“But if—what if this is all just a dream?” Link’s words spilled out of them like a waterfall. Like if they didn’t get the thoughts out <em>right now,</em> they would drown under the weight of the crashing waves. “What if it’s all just made-up, and then—and then when the Wind Fish awakens, everything just vanishes?”</p><p><em>“Maybe this is all just a dream,”</em> said Ulrira, assured. <em>“But you’re experiencing it right now, aren’t you? The things that you do and the memories you make are real as can be.”</em></p><p>“But—but if it’s a dream,” Link said, around a lump in their throat, “I’ll have to leave you all behind. I don’t—I can’t lose so many friends.”</p><p><em>“The people you meet,”</em> Ulrira said gently, <em>“will never be gone as long as you remember them.”</em></p><p>There were tears running down Link’s face. Forgetting that Ulrira couldn’t see them, Link laughed wetly and said, “Sorry—I don’t know why I’m crying.” They wiped a hand across their eyes. “Y-You know, that sounds like a line in Marin’s favorite song. <em>The dream will always be inside you.</em>”</p><p>
  <em>“There is much wisdom and power in music.”</em>
</p><p>“No Courage?” Link joked, even despite the way their voice wavered. “Wait, you don’t know about the Triforce… Never mind…”</p><p>Through the telephone, Link heard Ulrira laugh.</p><p><em>“You are the courage, Link,”</em> said Ulrira. <em>“You will succeed and save us all!”</em></p><p>Link took a deep, steadying breath.</p><p>“Okay,” Link said. They got to their feet. “Okay. I’ll banish the Nightmares and wake the Wind Fish.”</p><p>
  <em>“All of us have faith in you! Goodbye!”</em>
</p><p>
  <em>Click!</em>
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>im not crying you are</p><p>i dont think link is gonna be ok yet after this. one conversation isnt gonna make them magically not have trauma from erasing a whole island from existence. but i think in the future link will think abt their conversation w ulrira and find comfort in his words</p><p>(also im v proud that this came out only a day after the first part but it'd be a miracle if i managed to keep this streak up, so don't expect future updates to come this quickly. hope for the best ofc lmao but)</p></blockquote></div></div>
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